SCRS also provides consultation to University officials who have concerns about a student.

Location and Hours of Operation

Eligibility

All students and spouses, domestic partners, and children of students who have paid the Student Health Fee are eligible for services at SCRS. The Health Fee allows the patient to receive diagnostic assessment and short-term treatment and/or referral. Most students pay the Student Health Fee at the time of their quarterly tuition. If a student is unsure of their Health Fee status, they should contact the Registrar’s Office at x 2-7891

Alumni are allowed one session at SCRS, free of charge, to discuss treatment and referral options. Members of the Student Health Insurance Plan who wish to use their outpatient mental health benefits for therapy outside the SCRS must first be assessed and referred by the SCRS in order to avoid a penalty.

All students and spouses, domestic partners, and children of students who pay the Student Health Fee are eligible for services at the SCRS. Members of the Student Health Insurance Plan who wish to use their outpatient mental health benefits for therapy outside the SCRS should first be assessed and referred by the SCRS. Alumni are allowed one session at SCRS to discuss referral options.

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Confidentiality
The Student Counseling and Resource Service keeps medical records in accordance with professional, legal, and ethical guidelines. Other than authorized SCRS staff, no one will have access to records unless the patient releases them in writing. They will not become part of the patient’s academic file, and even the fact that the patient has come to SCRS will not be divulged to anyone without the patient’s permission.

Therapists may consult with supervisors and colleagues to improve his or her skills and to provide the patient with the highest quality services possible. This will be done without the use of the patient’s name whenever possible. If the therapist is being supervised, the patient will be informed of the name of his or her supervisor. The patient’s sessions will never be taped without the patient’s written consent. Statistics are compiled on SCRS activities, and from time to time the SCRS staff may make presentations and write articles as part of their work in an academic setting. In these cases, specific identifying information is either absent or highly disguised.

An exception to confidentiality would be a situation in which the patient was assessed to be a danger to themselves or others, the patient’s records were subpoenaed, or reporting (e.g., of the patient’s abuse or neglect of a minor) were required by law. Even in these cases, the patient would be informed if possible and no more information than necessary would be released.

Effective therapy requires an atmosphere of trust. Questions about the confidentiality policy can be raised with the patient’s therapist, or with Thomas Kramer, MD, Director of the SCRS.

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Number of Visits
The Student Counseling and Resource Service operates on a short-term therapy model. The number of visits is determined individually for each patient depending on his or her condition, but is not unlimited and there is a charge for extended services.

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Payment of the Student Health Fee enables registered students of the University of Chicago to receive their basic health care from SCRS and The Student Care Center. All registered students are automatically billed the Student Health Fee with their quarterly tuition. If a student is unsure of his or her Health Fee status, they should contact the Registrar’s office at us

At SCRS, this fee covers intake, diagnostic assessment, and short-term treatment and/or referral. If the treatment at SCRS goes beyond the short nature of our clinic, fees will be assessed.

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Insurance Benefits
All students are required to carry supplemental health insurance that covers medications, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations (services not covered by the student health fee.) Students may choose to enroll in the Student Medical Plan offered by the University, or seek other insurance coverage comparable to the University’s Plan.

Students with questions about the Student Medical Plan should contact the On-Campus Coordinator for the Chickering Group, Tammie Halbert, by dialing us back to top
Referrals
The SCRS serves as the “gatekeeper” for the Student Medical Plan. If a student wishes to see an outside clinician, he or she must make an appointment at SCRS to obtain referral forms before meeting with their new clinician. If the forms are not obtained before the first visit, the student will incur a penalty of $25 per appointment.

If the insured student received mental health treatment within 90 days before starting the plan, there is a 90-day waiting period for a pre-existing condition before claims will be considered.

If the student is not satisfied with the therapist to whom he/she was referred and want a second referral to a different therapist, the student will need to have a new referral form completed by an SCRS clinician, and signed by the Director.

The SCRS refers students only to licensed clinicians, and are unable to backdate referral forms. If a student would like to be referred to more than one outside clinician for treatment, a separate referral form must be obtained for each.

The Student Counseling Virtual Pamphlet Collection was originally developed by Dr. Lil Hsiung. SCRS clinicians reviewed the Collection in August 2003 and selected the information most salient to University of Chicago students for this website. An unabridged version of the Virtual Pamphlet Collection is still available on Dr. Huntrai independent website.

The virtual pamphlets are organized by topic below. Click any topic to see the pamphlets for that topic. A virtual pamphlet put out by another university may refer to services available only to students at that university. University of Chicago students should, of course, refer to the Student Counseling and Resource Service’s list of services instead.

Introduction
The purpose of this web page is to provide faculty and professional staff with information about the Student Counseling and Resource Service, referral information, and how to assist University of Chicago students most effectively. Our goal is to help you recognize some of the symptoms of student distress and to provide some specific options for intervention and for referral to campus resources. We are available to assist you with problem situations and to consult with you on whether to intervene with a particular student.

This guide will discuss the role of faculty and staff in assisting with student problems. Guidelines are offered and each individual needs to consider what is appropriate in a given situation. Basic topics cover identifying students in distress, ways of dealing with these students and how to refer them for counseling. Dealing with the reluctant student, scheduling an appointment at SCRS and confidentiality issues are also discussed. At the end of this guide, other campus resources are listed.

We would like to announce the addition of anxiety and depression screening self-assessment tools. These tools require “cookies” to be turned on in your web browser and are for University of Chicago students only.

Welcome to the Screening Program

The Student Counseling Service would like to announce the addition of a depression screening self-assessment tool to our website, counseling.uchicago.edu. This screening tool allows University of Chicago students to anonymously and privately screen themselves for the presence of depression and assess its severity. Although some basic demographic information will be asked, there will be no identifiable data requested. Students who complete the screen can use the data they get from it to determine whether they want to seek help at the Student Counseling Service or elsewhere. We would like to limit use of the screen to our student community, so we keep our demographic data specific to us. We hope this new resource is of added benefit to the University and we hope it will help us to continue to meet the mental health needs of our students.

The Student Counseling Service (SCS) is open from 8:30 AM to 4:45 PM Monday through Friday and can be reached at 2-9800. SCS offers a range of services, including crisis intervention, diagnostic assessment, psychiatric evaluation, individual therapy, therapy for couples, group therapy, medication management, and referral. To schedule an appointment — or to make any non-emergency inquiry — call 702-9800 between 8:30 am and 4:45 pm.